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Post by marielouise on Aug 9, 2015 12:46:40 GMT
II was very impressed by that Flower Clock when I was 11, I am glad to see that it is still there. We used to sit on the apartment balcony in the evening watching lightning over Mount Saleve, it never reached the city. Also we went to drink the water at Evian.
We had a friend in Montreal who came from Lausanne and she said she hated all the rules, neighbours would report to the authorities on their neighbours. I think her father wasn't storing his small boat on his property in the right place or something like that.
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Post by chech on Aug 9, 2015 15:19:40 GMT
LOL...yeah...Vincenzo was telling us that how one piles a woodpile reflects on the individual so you'd rarely see a woodpile as a pile of wood. It was always stacked like pieces of a puzzle.
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Post by bet on Aug 9, 2015 20:50:09 GMT
LOL...that's a good way of putting it. The rules make it so much better for the tourists too. I didn't note it yet in the tale, but the Swiss are able to keep the organized Roma from entering the country, so pickpocketing is unheard of. I walked around with my wallet in my back pocket with no worry. Yeah the Swiss try to move these people along, to annoy people elsewhere. Switzerland is probably too expensive for them, and they'll need to work twice as hard pickpocketing people. The Swiss had a referendum not so long ago & they voted in favour to have tighter border controls for that exact reason and crime in general has increased since the free movement policy, but I haven't heard the latest. I've always felt perfectly safe and never had a single problem whenever I've been there. My only problem is I can never have enough money when I'm there.
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Post by chech on Aug 10, 2015 0:15:53 GMT
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Post by tiffany on Aug 10, 2015 11:40:49 GMT
I’ve only read up to the end of day 2, but I wouldn’t mind going back to Switzerland some day on this tour. It sounds like you have more included than I did on my Switzerland and Austria tour. Looking forward to reading day 3.
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Post by chech on Aug 10, 2015 16:53:00 GMT
Yeah....Vincenzo would tell us along the way what tours saw or didn't see different sites. He said it was rare to have a tour hit Zermatt, St. Moritz and Grendalwald. He works for multiple companies (so that he can work year-round) and said this tour of Switzerland was unique cause it covers so much. He said when they first suggested it, some said it was too much time to spend in such a small country. Boy...we could have saw even more!
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Post by tiffany on Aug 10, 2015 17:14:29 GMT
My tour went to Zermatt and St. Moritz, but not Grendalwald. It sounds like your tour has a little more included than mine did though.
I’m sure there’s enough to see in Switzerland on a two week tour. I know I’d like to see more of Switzerland and Austria than I saw on my tour.
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Post by bet on Aug 10, 2015 21:13:20 GMT
That's the reason why I picked this tour, it's the most comphrensive I had come across and the country roads theme taking in the smaller places as well. There's plenty to see in Switzerland, I've been going there for a while and I'm yet to see everything I want to, but I thought this tour offered a good taste of Switzerland. Your TD, tale and your pics sell it well, Chech
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Post by 1jhwks on Aug 10, 2015 22:57:48 GMT
Dine Around has been around. When we went to China, we were given vouchers to three restaurants in the Beijing hotel. I think almost everyone went to the same one.
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Post by chech on Aug 11, 2015 0:11:20 GMT
Ah...first time I've seen Dine Around. Pretty cool. Day Six - the Matterhorn Expedition - is up: wp.me/P4wi9z-1M1
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Post by marielouise on Aug 11, 2015 4:00:37 GMT
We had Dine Around on our Country Roads of France in 2007. I think it was the first year. We did not have it on the winter tour Best of Italy and not in Turkey, which is run by a local operator. Insight and Trafalgar use different Turkish operators unless they have made a recent change.
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Post by tiffany on Aug 11, 2015 11:40:30 GMT
I’ve read about Dine Around in someone else’s tour tale, but I’ve never experienced it. Sounds like a fun idea though. Gives people options.
I’m about to start day 4. I’m a little behind but will catch up shortly.
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Post by chech on Aug 11, 2015 23:14:33 GMT
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Post by tiffany on Aug 12, 2015 11:51:51 GMT
On my tour, we stopped to take a group picture and individual pictures with the St. Bernard’s at Trockener Steg with the peak in the background. We started out with two St. Bernard’s, but one of them got jealous when a couple walked by with their dog, and tried to attack. After that they removed the one dog. I bought the individual picture but not the group one. It turned out to be a really nice picture, and I even framed it.
I’m not a McDonald’s fan, but I got a picture of me in front of the McDonald’s in Zermatt, as it was one of the nicest McDonald’s I’ve e seen. I really enjoyed my time in Zermatt
My step-mother recently bought me a cooling towel, which I’ve used twice now. The air-conditioning at my gym has been broken for the last month, and working out has been brutal. I find it helps a little bit, but not as much as I’d like.
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Post by chech on Aug 12, 2015 15:10:35 GMT
Yeah, I thought the dog would be coming up with us, but they didn't. Apparently, he photo-shopped in the Matterhorn in the background. I didn't bother with the pic. I did get a shot of Buddy checking out Vincenzo's nether region. Attachments:
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Post by Boop on Aug 12, 2015 17:41:42 GMT
Yeah, I thought the dog would be coming up with us, but they didn't. Apparently, he photo-shopped in the Matterhorn in the background. I didn't bother with the pic. I did get a shot of Buddy checking out Vincenzo's nether region. and you managed to get the Matterhorn in the background...........
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Post by chech on Aug 12, 2015 17:54:04 GMT
Are you sure it's the Matterhorn....or is someone just happy to see Buddy....? <snort>
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Post by chech on Aug 13, 2015 0:49:50 GMT
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Post by bet on Aug 13, 2015 6:39:45 GMT
Chech your tale is playing out almost identical to mine the exception being you got a good TD. I loved the Zermatt hotel, Sion and Bellinzona as well. The Isola Bella and the Bellinzona Optionals were where my TD short changed us, as we got no local guide for either optional. I'm sure the TD kept the money meant for the local guides for himself. We had no tour through Isola Bella just a 2min walk through, the TD did a decent job at Bellinzona though.
I noticed this year the tour doesn't include a stop in Gstaad during the stay in Montreux, but it wasn't really worth going, just for a quick look.
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Post by tiffany on Aug 13, 2015 11:48:11 GMT
We were cut short at Isola Bella as well, but not because we didn’t have a guide. We ended up getting there late due to too many 30 min coffee stops on the way there, the second of which was not needed or necessary (I know that drivers need to stop every so often, but that wasn’t the case in this instance), and instead of having 2.5 hours to tour the palace, see the gardens and have lunch, we had 1.5 hours. Our guide had to rush us through the palace, and then we rushed through the gardens in order to have lunch. We were all starving at that point so we wanted to eat!
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Post by chech on Aug 13, 2015 17:31:41 GMT
I can see why Isola Bella gets a bad rap sometimes. With time and a good guide, it was a nice optional. And there were cats!
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Post by chech on Aug 13, 2015 23:49:53 GMT
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Post by bet on Aug 14, 2015 9:48:19 GMT
You have some great pics Chech, I need to invest in a better camera. I did prefer the right hand side of the train especially Lago Bianco, Alp Grum and the Morteratsch Glacier portion, but hard to go wrong with any train trip in Switzerland. I'm looking forward to your Grindelwald & Jungfraujoch installment
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Post by tiffany on Aug 14, 2015 11:48:18 GMT
You have some great pics Chech, I need to invest in a better camera. I did prefer the right hand side of the train especially Lago Bianco, Alp Grum and the Morteratsch Glacier portion, but hard to go wrong with any train trip in Switzerland. I'm looking forward to your Grindelwald & Jungfraujoch installment I too thought the views on the right were better. I got stuck on the left side of the train, and I, along with everyone on the left, kept trying to squeeze in on the right in order to get some nice pictures.
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Post by tiffany on Aug 14, 2015 11:55:37 GMT
Our Bernina optional was different than yours. After we got off the train, we went to a local hotel for wine and cheese in their back garden. It was very nice, but we didn’t get to see much of the village. When we got back to our hotel, we only had time to freshen up before leaving for our Be My Guest dinner at a local farm. Two people didn’t sign up for the optional, so we had to go back to the hotel, otherwise, we would have went straight to the farm.
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Post by chech on Aug 14, 2015 12:10:50 GMT
Yeah, I think since we all had room to look and take pics to the right, it didn't feel so necessary to be on one side. I did find from time to time that while everyone was oo-ing to the right, there was something on the left. I just kept walking back and forth. The people who filled up the rest of our car had gotten off before it got really good, so we had the whole car to ourselves. The best look at the glacier and mountain were on the bus trip back cause he stopped for both. That was an unexpected treat. And to avoid another unnecessary delay because of runway construction, I moved my departure for Australia back a day and will spend a night in Toronto. That means I leave on Monday for a tour that starts the following Sunday.
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Post by marielouise on Aug 14, 2015 13:24:14 GMT
Oh this brings back memories. In the early 1970's, I went skiing at St Moritz. I had to fly from Montreal to New York then to Zurich where I took the train to Chur and then the Rhaetian railway to St Moritz. Back in those days Second class had wooden benches, I upgraded to first class going home. I had a wonderful time and spent most of the time skiing at Piz Corviglia, then on the last few days at Piz Nair. It would be cloudy in St Moritz but up there we skied above the clouds in the sunshine. I found it strange to ski above the tree line and had to really pay attention to not get lost. I really want to take this tour.
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Post by chech on Aug 14, 2015 18:22:24 GMT
You would love this tour! It's a real easy pace and if you factor is some pre or post days, you would be centred in Lucerne or Zurich and be able to go anywhere to add to the experience. Given the cost of living in Switzerland, this tour was really reasonably priced (add about $1000 if you go for all the optionals). And pick a time of the year when it's likely to be sunny like late summer. Also, Vincenzo was saying Insight increased the number of tours since they were filling up and this summer, they didn't fill, so next year might see fewer departures. I think they had two a week this year - Sunday and Tuesdays.
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Post by chech on Aug 15, 2015 0:20:12 GMT
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Post by chech on Aug 15, 2015 22:53:36 GMT
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